| No Irish joke for Qld betting scam victims |
UNSUSPECTING punters were duped into betting on both sides of sporting contests in a scam that led to a Gold Coast syndicate reaping more than $4 million over 18 months.
THE syndicate, known as "Irish boys", was busted by Queensland's corruption watchdog on Monday after raids on two so-called "boiler room" call centres.
Four men - two Irish nationals and two Australians, aged between 32 and 36 - were arrested by detectives on the Gold Coast and are set to be charged with fraud.
While the Crime and Corruption Commission valued the takings from a sophisticated sports betting scam at $4 million, it expects the overall figure and number of victims to rise significantly.
The Irish Boys allegedly operated a complex scheme selling sham betting software to at least 150 unsuspecting victims - who each paid between $9000 and $39,000 - across the country.
Acting executive director of crime Michael Scott said customers were told it would allow them to bet legitimately on both sides of two-sided sporting contests.
"The mathematical theory is that you will necessarily win substantial monies on that contest," Mr Scott said.
"That's the theory. In practice it simply doesn't work."
Customers later received terms and conditions stating the true risk of the activity.
Mr Scott said the victims, who attempted to use the software, realised it was useless and lodged complaints that were never properly addressed.
"Eventually, as time goes on, it becomes virtually impossible to make contact with the company," he said.
Intelligence suggests some of the takings have flowed offshore - a factor that made it difficult to track the money trail, Queensland Police Service Acting Assistant Commissioner Cameron Harsley said.
Mr Harsley defended the fraud squad's performance amid claims The Irish Boys have been operating on the Gold Coast for about a decade.
He said boiler rooms weren't able to be investigated by a single agency because of their complexity.
"The fraud squad has been continually looking at these different frauds," Mr Harsley said.
"The boiler room per say has really come to light as an organised entity of crime in the last few years."
Authorities have urged anyone who believes they may have been a victim of the scam to contact Crime Stoppers.
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